Burning Man Season One
by EMMMMMMMS747
Summary: In the city of Los Santos, a gang war is brewing. One which will have consequences far beyond what anyone could ever handle.


Three bullets whizzed by Mav as her instincts told her to duck and cover. Each bullet was louder than the last one. Hands still shaking, Mav readied her pistol.

"I didn't think I'd fire this damn thing so soon." She said dryly. Her partner only looked at her, and waved for her to come closer.

"Best not be shoutin anything towards the heavens now." He said, his words jumbled beneath his thick Irish accent. "Else the whole world know where we are."

"Oh, uh sorry," Mav apologized. Her voice much lower now. "Conor, Do we aim to kill or dissuade?" She asked slightly embarrassed.

"Kill if needed otherwise do not engage with the enemy," Conor explained. "Less we get struck down by a superior foe."

"Got it," Mav noted. "How do you reckon we get out of here? They could easily be leadin us into some type of trap."

Conor put a wayward finger up against his lips. "There are several fire exits including this one above us." His head shot upwards. True to his word, there was a long fire exit snaking its way alongside the brick building. Mav tried to look up without breaking her neck. The ladder itself was several feet taller than herself. And she knew her own leg strength wouldn't be enough on their own.

"So what if I don't have the leg strength to hop up there?" She asked sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it too much," Conor said confidently. "The fire escape is a last resort. Best thing to do is just wait for the others to show up and don't move."

Not moving was a harder task than Conor made it out to be. With every bullet, Mav wanted to jump out of her shoes. Yet something told her to remain firm. Chills ran down her spine every time she saw another bullet fly past them.

Suddenly, Mav could hear the screech of a siren. It was faint, but still a welcome distraction from her current situation.

"Shit!" Conor spat. "I was worried the pigs were gonna get involved."

"Wouldn't that be good for us, Conor?" Mav asked. He probably didn't know it, but she caught a flash of anger break his usual stoic expression.

"No." He said bluntly. "We're all gangbangers. The cops will just shoot us down the moment they're finished with our rivals over there." Conor said looking over his shoulder. "We have to make a run for it before they see us." He demanded.

Deep down Mav knew he was right. She sucked in a large gulp of air and sprang from her hiding spot, Conor not far behind. The gun shots picked up in intensity as they neared the intersection. At the last moment Conor took a hard right out into a busy street. Ignoring any passing cars, he safely made his way to the other side. Mav followed his lead, and soon she was safe from any rival gangs, and the police.

"What the hell was that all about?" She scolded Conor. "We could have gotten killed with how reckless you were!"

"You still followed me didn't you?" Conor shot back.

"I didn't have a say in the matter." She said dryly. "Are you sure we're safe here?" As if on cue a bullet flew right over their head.

"Safe is a pretty subjective term lass." Conor yelled.

"Subtle." Mav rolled her eyes in a way he would notice. "Why can't we just leave now?"

"You know, you bring up a good point miss." Conor's tone said he was really annoyed. Though his face said something else. "Our base is clear across town. How do you suggest we get there?" He said slightly more pissed off.

"Point taken." Mav apologized. "Still isn't there a number we could call?"

"For like a chopper? Nah they don't use them for simple missions like this." Conor said.

"So then we're stuck until we claw our way out then?" Mav said.

"Afraid so lassy. It'd be best if we keep movin. The shots have stopped firin so I'd appreciate it if we could get a move on here." Conor's eyes shot towards an alleyway. He wasn't messing around with their lives.

The pair sprinted down the alley and hopped a fence. Mav struggled, and in the process tore a small gash across her right thigh. She ignored the pain, and marched forward. Once they were able to stop she wrapped a bandana over the wound.

"Everything alright?" Conor asked. He bent down to inspect the wound. It was bleeding pretty heavily through the cloth.

"I can still walk on it," Mav replied. "But I'm worried it might be infected. The fence looked pretty rusty."

"Yeah, I can call for a medical exam the moment we step back on campus," Conor confirmed. "In the meantime, you're just gonna have to hobble on those penguin feet the best you can." Conor snuck in a smile.

"Ha ha very funny Celt. My feet could scale that mountain of a forehead," she parried.

"Nice one," Conor rolled his eyes. "With a response like that I'm sure you'll make your way up to Chief Comedy Officer in no time," he said dryly.

"Be careful what you wish for," Mav winked.

As they ventured through the slums of Los Santos, Mav felt a growing sense of dread wash over. She felt as if they weren't meant to be here. Every other house was foreclosed, and most of them decayed to the point it was hard imagining a family ever living there to begin with. Every once in a while they'd pass another human being, but otherwise the place was like a ghost town.

"Are you sure we're going the right way? Doesn't seem like the best place for a base, or really anything at all," Mav said.

"Nah nothing really goes down here anymore. That's just your suburban white girl talking. Unemployment was the worst in the country in the nineties so the city literally just shut the place down," Conor explained.

"Is the city allowed to do that?" Mav asked skeptically. "Wouldn't there be a nation wide riot over it?"

"Hey glasses, I know you're young, but do you remember Rodney King? Majority of people outside the city don't," Conor said with a pinch of anger.

"I see your point. Guess this is pretty perfect for a base then," Mav said. "Do the cops show up much around here?"

Conor shook his head. "Thank god they don't. Seems they want to forget about this just as much as everyone else."

A bright light caused Mav to wince. Her hand shielded her from the rays. "Is this the place?"

"Yep. Let me introduce you to Roosterteeth HQ," Conor said, his voice filled with excitement.

The compound was a lot bigger than it appeared on the outside. It was guarded by several teams of guards circling the area. Inside was filled to the brim with hundreds of people working various menial jobs.

"Ah I see you guys have made it back!" A big, booming voice could be heard across the room. Mav turned to see a man with one of the largest beer guts she had ever seen walking towards her in a matching suit and pants.

"Good to see you again Jack!" Conor smiled. "Before we enjoy some small talk, I have an immediate medical problem that needs to be looked at," he pointed to Mav's leg.

Mav was whisked away by a medical team which seemed to appear out of nowhere. Before she headed off to the medical ward, Mav got a look at the complex. A giant company logo was holographically displayed above them. The hallway they went through was extremely small. Probably smaller than it should have been. Mav winced as her bed bumped into a couple of walls before stabilizing.

The medical bay was a bit smaller, but a lot brighter. Mav had to shield herself before she became blind. She was greeted by a standard hospital bed and a single doctor. She smiled before pointing at her leg. The blood had hardened and would be a pain to remove.

"How deep do you think the wound penetrated?" The doctor asked.

"I feel it was pretty deep," Mav confirmed. "Would it require any surgery?"

"I'm afraid so," the doctor said solemnly. He motioned for the nurses to get in position. "I'll have to call the anesthesiologist which will take a little while. Are you okay with that?"

Mav nodded, too weak to talk. Her face was pale as a ghost. As time went by, her vision became blurry. She thought the blood had begun to clot, but it seemed things weren't dying down as she hoped. Her leg still felt like it was on fire. She could barely move it, though she could barely tell if she was or not, having most of the feeling gone. It could have been worse for her. Getting shot would have caused greater blood loss. The looks on the nurses' faces relaxed her mind a little. Their expressions read it was unlikely she would need any further operations done.

"Alright miss, we have brought her over, and are going to begin working on you right away." The doctor's voice moved as quick as his feet. "Standard surgery nothing too major." His smile warmed her soul. "Should be in and out in a few horus. Amount of rest to be determined."

Mav smiled knowing her well being was taken care of. She could drift into a blissful sleep with an experienced doctor at the wheel.

Some time later all of her senses began to flair up at once. Coming to was another issue all on its own, but she decided to ignore it. Most of her right leg was wrapped over an ungodly amount of gauze. The swelling appeared to have stopped, but she still felt some tingling where the cut had been.

"How are you feeling ma'am?" One of the nurses asked.

"I'm doing alright," Mav said. Her words sounded slurred to the point she could be easily mistaken for a drunk. "I could use a glass of water right now."

"Right away ma'am!" The nurse said, and took off skipping down the hall.

Mav gurgled some of her saliva trying to wash down the taste of the gauze in her mouth.

Apparently, she had bitten her tongue as she was coming to after surgery, and had started to bleed quite a bit. She wasn't a stranger to her teeth betraying her.

Some time had past before the request was fulfilled. Mav graciously took the water and chugged it down. Her throat had been burning almost as badly as her leg. Mav was about to drift off into sleep when she heard a knock on the door.

"So you're the new recruit I spoke to earlier," he said stroking his beard.

Mav nodded. "I think I remember you. Conor said your name was Jack?" She asked confused.

"That's exactly it!" He said cheerfully. "I was just stopping by to make sure everything went smoothly."

Mav's face loosened, letting a warm smile cross her lips. "That's very kind of you Jack. And yeah, I'm doing alright."

"Does the doc know how long you're going to be out?" He asked.

"I have no idea." Mav shook her head. "They'd better hurry up so I can get started with rehab." She punched a nearby pillow. How stupid could she have been to climb a rusty fence so recklessly? She felt her face swell with anger, and felt she might explode.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Jack placed a warm, friendly hand on her. "It was a freak accident. I've lost a couple of men under me to them."

"Then how can you stay so calm?" Mav snapped back.

"I've learned to treat these kinds of things as out of my control. From what Conor told me that fence was your only way out. It wasn't your fault."

"I appreciate the concern, but I'd rather just not talk about it right now." Mav said soberly. It was a while before she spoke up again. "So how long have you been here?"

"I've been working for RoosterTeeth for almost eight years now," Jack said fondly. "They've provided everything for me. What made you decide to join us?"

"Just parental issues," Mav tilted her head down. "I'd prefer not to talk about it until I become more familiar with the place. Thanks for asking though."

Jack nodded, "not a problem. What's your name? I never caught it when Conor brought you in."

"It's Mav," she answered. "Your name is Jack right? I'm usually pretty bad with names," she managed to let out a small chuckle.

"You got it! Hey, an idea just popped into my head. How would you feel if I gave you a tour, and introduce you to the guys after they discharge you?" Jack asked.

"That would actually be pretty nice. I'm down for it." Mav answered.


End file.
